Chapter 4

Some Things Do Change

On Wednesday, when his wife didn't show up, Danny called her to see if she was okay. "What do you mean you ain't comin'?" he asked.

"Just exactly what I said," answered his wife, Connie. "I'm not coming. I'm staying in Atlanta."

"But for how long?" Danny asked.

"From now on," she replied, "I'm not leaving Atlanta to go live in some hick town."

"Well I can't support you in Atlanta."

"You won't have to," she yelled. "It's not like you've got anything anyway. I'm tired of being married to a no count bum who ain't never going to be anything but a millie."

Danny hung the telephone up, walked from the phone booth to his Harley, and started riding. Where he was going he didn't know, but riding always helped him to sort out his thoughts, and he needed to do a bunch of sorting just about now.

Danny began to ride a big circle a few miles outside of town. As he turned on the state highway from the county road, he noticed a huge mansion house he had never seen before. "Wow, this is new," he said to himself.

The house was an Antebellum style mansion with huge columns, and wrap around porches. It had a carriage house on one end, and a huge garage on the other. Danny figured the garage would hold maybe twenty cars. The entire property was bordered with a white board fence-- the new vinyl kind-- and there were barns and a stable to the right of the house. Of course anyone could see there wasn't any farming going on as the fields were all expertly mowed grass. There were several horses grazing in the fields, and the only tractor to be seen was a huge commercial mower, mowing way off in the distance.

Danny stopped his hog at the entrance to the mile long, cobblestone drive, and stared at the house. Even in Atlanta, he had never seen a house like this. Who in the world would build such a house as this around here, Danny thought?

Danny had only been sitting in the drive for a couple of minutes when a Jeep with two very large men wearing fancy imported suits came driving out to meet him. "Can I help you?" the man on the passenger side asked as both of them exited the Jeep.

"I was just looking," Danny said. "I've never seen anything like this before. Is this your house?"

"Never mind whose house it is," said the driver. "It's not a tourist attraction, and you've looked long enough."

"I'll be on my way," he said as he fired up his hog, the roar of the V-twin engine drowning out his voice.

Danny pulled back onto the state road, and continued his circle. The property the house sat on took up almost three miles of road frontage, and the road seemed to wrap around the property as if they meant to show it off. In the back, Danny could see a pool, and people on horses. There was even a lake in back. Not a pond, but a lake that must cover a hundred acres or more. What kind of people live in a place like that, Danny thought to himself? "Probably assholes," he answered aloud.

It was almost dark when Danny rode his hog into his own driveway at the little mill house he grew up in. Mrs. Wilson was on her porch swing. "Did you get any supper?" she asked.

"Not yet, Mrs. Wilson,I thought I'd fix myself a sandwich about now."

"Well Honey, if you're hungry I got fried catfish, fresh coleslaw, and hushpuppies still warm. Why don't you come on over and eat 'em so I don't have to throw them out?"

"Yes Ma'am," Danny answered. "Your hushpuppies were always better then momma's."

"It's a good thing your momma ain't alive to hear you say that. She took great pride in her cookin’ you know."

"Well that she did, Mrs. Wilson, but when it comes to hushpuppies, she always said you made the best in the whole south."

"Did your momma really say that about me?" Mrs. Wilson said with a smile."

"Yes Ma'am," Danny answered, “All the time.”

“Lord how I miss your momma.” Mrs. Wilson said as she raised from her chair to lead Danny inside.

“Yes Ma’am,” Danny agreed. “Right now I’m missing her myself.”

Comments

[Vickie]

marking my spot!